Milwaukee man accuses Sheriff Clarke of abuse of power after airport detention

Dan Black of Riverwest files complaint with county after interaction with sheriff on board flight from Dallas to Milwaukee

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Updated: 5:20 PM CST Jan 17, 2017

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WEBVTT MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL.AND CHRISTINA, THE TWO EXCHANGEDWORDS ON THE PLANE.>> THIS ALL HAPPENED ON ANAMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT FROMDALLAS TO MILWAUKEE HERE ONSUNDAY AFTERNOON.THE PASSENGER APPROACHED SHERIFFCLARKE ABOUT HIS GAME DAYATTIREDAN BLACK RECORDS VIDEO ON HISCELL PHONE AS HE'S CONFRONTED BYSEVERAL MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFFDEPUTIES AND BOMB SNIFFING DOGSAFTER GETTING OFF A FLIGHT FROMDALLAS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON>> THEY QUESTIONED ME FOR ABOUT15 MINUTES, TOOK DOWN ALL MYPERSONAL INFORMATION, AND THENTHEY ESCORTED ME ALL THE WAYOUT. BLACK WAS RETURNING FROM AFRIEND'S WEDDING IN DALLAS.THE RECENT UW-MILWAUKEE GRADSAYS AS HE BOARDED THE FLIGHT HENOTICED CLARKE SITTING IN FIRSTCLASS DECKED OUT IN DALLASCOWBOYS GEARSO HE ASKED CLARKE IF HE WAS THESHERIFF AND HE RESPONDED YES., >> I WAS JUST SURPRISED THATHE WAS WEARING COWBOYS GEAR.I'M ALREADY NOT A HUGE FAN OFTHE GUY AS I KNOW A LOT OF, PEOPLE AREN'T SO I JUST SHOOK, MY HEAD AND KEPT MOVING ON. BLACK TELLS ME CLARK THEN YELL, DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?BLACK AGAIN SHOOK HIS HEAD NO.THINKING NOTHING OF THE EXCHANGEBLACK SAYS HE WAS SHOCKED TO SEETHE NUMBER OF LAW ENFORCEMENTCOMING TOWARDS HIM IN THEAIRPORT.>> I'M THINKING HERE WE GO, HEREWE GO AND I DON'T REALLY KNOW, WHAT'S GOING ON. BLACK FILED A FORMAL COMPLAINTAGAINST CLARKE THIS AFTERNOON.>> IT'S AN ABUSE OF POWER TO DTHAT TO A PERSON.I CAN'T IMAGINE IF I HAD SAIDSOMETHING TO HIM WHAT WOULD HAVEHAPPENED.I CAN IMAGINE DOI THIS HOW HEMIGHT RETALIATE. BLACK WAS NEVER ARRESTED.A SOURCE WITHIN THE SHERIFF'OFFICE CONFIRMS THAT DEPUTIESWERE CALLED HERE SUNDAYAFTERNOON FOR SOMEONE MAKING FUNOF THE SHERIFF.WE REACHED OUT TO SHERIFF CLARKETO OFFICIALLY COMMENT, BUT HAVE

Milwaukee man accuses Sheriff Clarke of abuse of power after airport detention

Dan Black of Riverwest files complaint with county after interaction with sheriff on board flight from Dallas to Milwaukee

A Milwaukee man alleges that sheriff's deputies interrogated him and treated him "like a criminal" at Mitchell International Airport following a simple interaction with Sheriff David Clarke on board a flight from Dallas, according to a formal complaint he filed with the county.

"I literally hadn’t done anything wrong, but I was treated as a threat and I was detained," Dan Black wrote of his Sunday afternoon experience after deplaning American Airlines 1534 in Milwaukee.

"I saw an older man in first class who looked like Sheriff Clarke, but I could not be sure as he was dressed in Dallas Cowboys gear and wasn't wearing his signature cowboy hat. As I passed him, I asked if he was Sheriff Clarke, and he responded in the affirmative. I shook my head as I was moving on to my seat near the back of the plane.From behind, he asked if I had a problem. I shook my head “no” again and continued to my seat."

Nothing more was said between the two men for the duration of the flight, but Black said he saw Clarke again immediately after walking off the plane.

Clarke was waiting for him with six uniformed deputies and two K-9s, he said:

"I was very publicly escorted in front of everyone down the hall to a waiting area, and then questioned by two of the Sheriff's Department deputies. They told me Sheriff Clarke said I had made some remarks to him upon entering the plane. When I asked for clarification, the deputies said they couldn’t tell me, and when I asked if they even knew the context of my 'remarks,' they responded 'no.'"

Black said he was questioned for about 15 minutes before deputies escorted him through the terminal and out to a friend's waiting car. He said his friend noticed Clarke and the deputies watching them leave airport property.

Video posted to Black's Snapchat and Facebook accounts shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday show him in the airport with deputies behind him.

In his complaint, Black said that the deputies who interviewed him agreed that the interview was "stupid" and "ridiculous."

"There was absolutely no basis for this incident, and I believe I was the victim of the sheriff's abuse of power," Black wrote.

A request for comment from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office regarding the incident has not been returned as of Tuesday afternoon.